Ipswich Ale Brewery
New Surroundings
The company's connection to the community became even
stronger this past January, when Ipswich Ale Brewery
opened its new brewery and restaurant location. The new
space allowed the company to move from an industrial building where it had 9,000 square feet of production space to a
former mill building that gives it 36,000 square feet. Martin
says the company's original space was inefficient and not
well-tuned for production, and the new space will give it a
better flow for production as well as space for expansion
in the future. He says rehabbing the old mill building also
helped bring new vitality to that area of Ipswich, providing
greater benefit to the community as a whole.
The new space also allowed Ipswich Ale Brewery to open
a restaurant, which Martin says has been warmly received by
customers so far. Although the trend is for craft breweries to
open tasting rooms at their facilities, Martin says the demographics in Ipswich skew a bit older and more sophisticated.
"Our demographic really demands foodservice to go along
with the beer," he says, adding that the restaurant portion of
the facility is managed by an experienced management team
with years of restaurant expertise.
Making Changes
The addition of a restaurant and the added capacity of its
new facility are helping Ipswich Ale Brewery maintain its
position in the marketplace as the number of competing craft
breweries continues to rise. Martin says consumers have become less loyal to brands and become more style-driven or
trend-driven when they choose their beers, which means the
company has had to work harder to keep its market share.
"The craft beer market, except for a very few products, is not
a brand-oriented market anymore," he says.
Martin says the company's longevity is one thing that is
something of a double-edged sword in the current environment. As one of the pioneers of the craft brewing movement
in Massachusetts, Ipswich Ale Brewery has been in local
refrigerators for more than a generation, meaning many of
the company's current customers have been familiar with
the brand their entire lives. "Now we're somebody's father's
beer," Martin says.
Thanks to the company's skilled and dedicated brewing
staff, however, Ipswich Ale Brewery has been able to keep
up with trends and develop new seasonal and limited beers
that satisfy the taste of the moment, like its Blueberry Shandy
and Cream Ale. Even though the craft beer market is more
competitive than it has ever been, Ipswich Ale Brewery continues to stand out.
food & drink international * winter 2016 volume 1 * www.fooddrink-magazine.com
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